By Brian Giles on 12-Sep-2019 - This was the question I was asked – I’m the Lay Worship Leader and Churchwarden at the church of St Mary the Virgin in the Northamptonshire village of Weekley. A bit of background Sadly the six bells have been relatively quiet for 20 years with only occasional visiting bands and our sister church’s ringers coming […] Read more
By Lynn Wilson on 10-Sep-2019 - I began learning the ropes almost 4 months ago -taking an hour lesson weekly ( a few missed ones due to holidays but that’s all) I’m over 60 and I feel as if I am slow to learn, although my teacher says I am fine, doing well and growing in confidence. I managed to make […] Read more
By Niels Benatar on 09-Sep-2019 - In the previous edition of Tower Talk, I described my long-distance relationship with English bell ringing from my home in Braunschweig, Germany. I have now developed an affinity for the Tysoes and the Cotswolds which makes me feel giddy. It’s not just the addictive (six times this year alone!) elopement-like jaunts from Thursday to Saturday, […] Read more
By Debbie Moore on 07-Sep-2019 - To be hummed to the tune of “Day Trip to Bangor (Didn’t We Have a Lovely Time)” by Fiddler’s Dram: Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went Western Turnville,Halton, Ivinghoe and Whipsnade! A beautiful day, we had lunch on the way, And all for under ten pounds you know. On the way […] Read more
By Ewan Hull on 07-Sep-2019 - 16-year-old Ewan rings in York, and was taught by his parents: David Hull and Alison Edmonds. He rang his first quarter peal aged 7 and his first peal aged 8. As well as being an accomplished ringer – he has rung the tenor to young band peals of Cambridge Royal and Bristol Maximus and has […] Read more
By Ellie Seddon on 05-Sep-2019 - Ellie Seddon was the 100th ringer to achieve ART Learning the Ropes Level 5. Speaking to Tower Talk magazine about what motivated her to take up ringing, Ellie says: After returning from University I made a conscious effort to take up a new hobby, and after overhearing a conversation about a local village (Kirtlington) recruiting […] Read more
By Ruth Suggett on 03-Sep-2019 - Being the son of ringers, I have known my home tower of St Mark’s, Swindon all my life. I was taught to ring at the age of ten at St Mark’s, an easy going ring of eight (tenor 11½ cwt), and for the last 14 years I have never looked back. I’m a driven person, […] Read more
By Ruth Suggett on 01-Sep-2019 - Laura E. Goodin has been ringing for just over a year at St. James Old Cathedral in Melbourne, Australia.You can find out more about her writing at www.lauraegoodin.com I travel a lot. It’s why I’ll never be rich. And now that I’m a bell ringer, travel has taken on a new allure: grabbing towers. It’s […] Read more
By Malcolm Creese on 30-Aug-2019 - For their annual outing, the ringers at Swaffham Bulbeck and Bottisham in Cambridgeshire traditionally drive around villages in rural areas, but this year was different. We decided to ring in some of the historic churches in the City of London, and I was ‘volunteered’ to do the organising. To make the day interesting, I wanted […] Read more
By Mary Brice on 30-Aug-2019 - Every year, on Remembrance Day, we gather round the Memorial Cross in front of All Saints’ Church in Hilton, Dorset, and read the names of the men who left the Hilton & Ansty Parish Community and did not return. As the centenary of the end of the ‘war to end all wars’ approached, it felt […] Read more